Five Reasons to Look Forward to Playing Age of Wushu

Good news, everyone! February 1st is just a few short days away! On that day, Age of Wushu becomes available to play, and I've never been more excited. Although there are certainly a few minor issues with the game (the fact that it's essentially a pay-to-play game is chief among them), it more than makes up for them with all of its strong points.

Don't believe me? Here are just a few reasons to be stoked for Age of Wushu.

5. A Unique Setting

I love European-styled fantasy settings as much as the next guy, and even I've gotta admit they're starting to get a little old. You can only slay so many dragons, kill so many demons, fight so many mad wizards before everything starts to look the same.

That brings us to the first thing that makes Age of Wushu stand out: rather than taking place in some far-off high fantasy kingdom, it's set during the Ming Dynasty period in China. It shies away from typical monsters and magic and instead puts the focus on martial arts, in the tradition of Wuxia.

4. Action-Packed Combat

Of course, just because you're not going to be encountering any roaring dragons or power-mad gods, doesn't mean you're not going to be pulling off some pretty ridiculous stunts. Battles are going to be extremely fast-paced, and packed to the brim with action.

One of my biggest problems with a lot of traditional MMOs lies in the way they handle combat: you just kind of stand there pressing and clicking, more often than not. Not so here: you're going to be constantly moving, constantly monitoring your opponent, and looking for a weakness. Each martial ability in the game is either a parry, a feint, or an attack. It's sort of like rock paper scissors: Parries beat attacks, feints beat parries, and attacks beat feints.

Of course, it's a little more complicated than that, and that's where the beauty lies.

3. A Living, Breathing World

Snail Games has gone out of its way to make the world in Age of Wushu feel alive. NPC encounters are randomized, depending on who you are, where you are, and what you're doing. One way they accomplish this is by essentially turning the world into your sandbox, but more on that in a moment.

A gamer at heart, Nick started writing when he was a child. He holds a BA in English, works as a freelancer, and loves every minute of it. One day, he hopes to net himself a career in game design - but that's something for the future.

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